tonight, here in cairo, president mubarak goes on the air to say he is willing to leave, but that's not until elections in september. and for a massive angry crowd, for most of them, that's not good enough. meanwhile, back in the u.s., another monster storm churning from west to east. another potential history maker. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening, once again, from cairo, as we mentioned, the big story back home across much of the u.s. might be a big storm. here it is a big storm of protest. what an important day here. the massive protest in the place they call liberation square not far from where we were. the crowd size, what they wanted to get to was their target of 1 million. it appears they came very close. part two of the dramatic day, the man the protesters want out of office went on the air to say he intends to do just that, and not stand for re-election, but that's not until september. and for most of the people, you can still hear chanting behind us late here tonight. that's not good enough for them. we have this entire city covered, this entire region and story covered. our team is in place again tonight led by richard engel, who was out in it for most of

this day. richard, good evening once again. >> good evening, brian. president mubarak made an announcement. he appeared to take a hardline, even while promising to make his biggest concession yet. in a highly anticipated television address, mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in september and would set unspecified term limits. i will work for the remaining months in my term to guarantee the peaceful transition of power, he said. but mubarak also hinted a crackdown could be coming. he stressed his ties to the army, and said egypt must choose between chaos and stability. mubarak said he would die in egypt. the protesters expected much more. the reaction here has been immediate and angry. people saying mubarak must leave now, and there can be no other concessions. many of the demonstrators say the 82-year-old mubarak's concession that he will not

stand for another six-year term is no concession at all. >> we want him to leave our country. >> reporter: the demonstrators feel they have momentum and mubarak on the ropes after gathering hundreds of thousands of people today in cairo's main square. earlier in the day the mood was like a carnival. families were out together for the first time. but the protesters are giving mubarak a deadline. the protests today have mostly been peaceful. if mubarak doesn't step down by friday, they will resume clashes. who's organizing this revolution? and how do you set up a million strong protests when the government has cut the internet? i was surprised when i visited the protesters' tiny control room, an office with just ten volunteers. this operation is run by a

soft-spoken, 36-year-old english teach teacher named amal shareef. a single mother, she's been awake for 24 hours and makes hundreds of cell phone calls a day. just think about it, ten people. a mother of a 10-year-old girl, another bunch of college educated young people. you're organizing a revolt here in cairo. a revolution. do you think it will work? >> i think it will work. we didn't think it would go this far. >> reporter: the protests are continuing and unlike earlier in the day, now are furious. already tonight there are clashes in alexandria between president mubarak supporters and protesters. this could escalate even before friday. >> that's right. the days to come remain crucial. as we keep saying, a new stage

every day. richard engel leading off our coverage here tonight. these protesters almost to a person want nothing less than the american president to come out four square behind them in support. the problem is for the u.s., diplomacy works more delicately than that. they know that friends of theirs, saudi arabia and jordan are watching closely. that's the dicey circumstance for the white house. our white house correspondent savannah guthrie is there watching all of that tonight. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. we await a reaction from president obama, he's expected to address the cameras any minute now. he spoke to hosni mubarak for about a half hour. after mubarak made that speech, the president met with his national security team on this egypt issue for more than an hour today. they watched the speech from inside the situation room. and we've learned that frank wisner, who's a veteran diplo t diplomat, retired was dispatched

by the obama administration to speak to mubarak and did speak to him on monday. the message from president obama was don't run for re-election in september. that is exactly what mubarak said today. it does not seem to make the protesters happy. we expect to hear from the president any moment now, brian. >> savannah guthrie, continuing to watch things at the white house. savannah, thanks. one man getting a lot of media attention since he has come forward as a kind of compromise candidate. a man who could lead the various factions here is dr. mohammed el baradei. he's lived many of the past years in other countries. he's back here, he reacted tonight. i talked to him by telephone to this mubarak speech by saying

that mubarak is extending the ago on any, engaged in an active deception tonight by giving this speech. he called mubarak a dead man walking. those are very tough words from a man who is now back in egypt for whatever comes next. we talked to him at his home today about this sue dpseudo candidacy of his. how do you view your own -- whether we call it candidacy, if it isn't you emerging as a leader of a new egypt, are there individuals you would be perfectly happy to see? >> i'd be perfectly happy, brian, that i be quote/unquote agent for change. seeing my region going from where we are to where we should be. i would be perfectly happy if anybody else would take it from there. i'm not interested in running the country. i'm interested in seeing this country, at this stage of my

life, you know, catching up, being part of the big human family i'm used to. i've lived in the u.s. for 15 years, europe for 25 years. i lived in democracies. this is to me -- without democracy, there is no life. the issue of who's going to run doesn't really matter. the important thing is how he's going to be chosen. >> look at your country right now. there's no internet service, commerce has ground to a halt. stores are closed, nothing's happening. the price of oil is spiking, tourism -- people are trying to get out, not come in. >> sure. >> how long can this go on? >> it can't last very long. the country is going down the drain. and unless mubarak understands he needs to go by the end of the week, my fear is that the whole situation will go bloody, again i continue to have -- people

around him need to go. once he's out, everything can sort of go back to normal. >> dr. mohammad el baradei. he's fired quite a shot at hosni mubarak. we've spoken about tunisia, where this may spread in the arab world. we've mentioned nations like jordan, saudi arabia, while speaking of jordan, the king there, king abdullah today absolved his own government seen by many as a preempttive strike. martin fletcher is in amman, jordan tonight. >> reporter: that's exactly the preem preempttive strike by king abdullah. he fired his entire cabinet and appointed a new prime minister.

he's an ex-general, former ambassador to turkey, very proamerican. many are saying this may be more of the same. he was a prime minister himself just a couple years ago briefly. now, the question here is, the protesters last week were calling for more -- lower food prices, that was the main issue. only recently escalated the demand for political change. now that the king has done this. will those -- the new government be enough to satisfy the protesters? all eyes now are on egypt, whatever happens in egypt, if it gets more violent there, it could happen here too. i have to say, brian, support in jordan for the king is unchanged. >> all right, martin fletcher, in amman, jordan. martin, thanks. for this next item we have to leave this region, go far away, in fact, back home. a storm so big we could almost use the phrase across the united states. at one point today, this measured over 2,000 miles in its

total width. more than one simple and complete weather system. nine states are under blizzard warnings tonight, and they're talking about what, two feet or more, in a possibly history making blizzard in chicago, illinois, where nbc's al roker is standing by tonight. and where, al, i understand -- i'm sorry, it's kevin tibbles, i understand the fun is just getting started there. >> reporter: brian, a huge swath of this nation, including right here in beautiful chicago, illinois is expecting 24 inches, two feet of snow from a massive storm that's paralyzing across this country. as the big white monster marches in, the nation mobilizes. an estimated 100 million people stand in the path of this massive storm. >> i can barely talk right now, my face is so freakin' cold. >> reporter: fema is already

positioned in 11 states. states of emergency declared in at least four. and the national guard has been deployed in others. >> nothing's leaving, so you don't know whether to sit here and wait or rent a car and try to drive. >> reporter: more than 6,000 flights already cancelled. power outages reported from texas to michigan and beyond. chicago, where they know winter is bracing for two feet of snow. >> we are prepared to use our whole fleet of 274 trucks and 120 garbage trucks with quick hitch plows. >> reporter: heavy snow and ice hammering major cities hard. snow, sleet and ice brought closures and shut down mass transit, just as 100,000 people are starting to descend on this city for the super bowl. we've had winds gusting 40 to 50 miles an hour. that's causing whiteout conditions here. advisability at times getting below an eighth of a mile. that creates dangerous travel

conditions. in fact the state department of transportation advising people to stay off the roads and stay home. >> i'm john yang in st. louis, the big concern is the heavy snow on top of the ice that's already here, plus heavy winds are going to bring down tree limbs and power lines. the local utility has 500 linemen standing by. >> here, near indianapolis an inch of ice has glazed roads and freeways. national guard troops are helping drivers and residents. and forecasters are calling the storm devastating. saying it could be the worst in state history. >> reporter: brian, you heard them, authorities are saying, stay home, stay off the roads, and hunker down. because this could be a dangerous night. brian? >> kevin tibbles, starting off our coverage in chicago, where we should add they don't scare easily. but this one can stress even the hardiest city. kevin, thanks. i knew we had al roker out there

somewhere in this snow. he is indeed also in chicago. good evening? >> reporter: good evening, brian, this storm could break the record set back in 1967 of almost two feet of snow. take a look at the stretch of blizzard watches and warnings, winter storm advisories stretching all the way from illinois into the northeast and new england. here's the storm right now on radar, can you see it's a monster of a storm. to the south it's spawned some tornados, to the north of it, you can see the heavy snow. the track of the storm will bring it up through new england. and a secondary storm will form off the coast. that will generate even more winds, more snow and more freezing rain for the northeast. as far as snowfall accumulations, up to 26 inches here in boston, we're looking for 18 to 20 inches of snow through upstate new york, and on into parts of nurng. the other problem is, ice, we're looking at up to an inch of ice through a good portion of the midwest into the northeast. brian? >> when it's all over, we'll

talk about the history maker that this winter of 2010-2011 is turning out to be. al roker out in it, in chicago where it's going to be a long night of big snow. we're going to take a break. when we come back, we'll return our coverage to this region, what's being called this people's revolution in the city. what about the people themselves? their faces, their lives? when we continue. affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry, in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 80% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses, and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food.

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egyptians speaking as one against president mubarak are finding their voice. >> we want one thing, we all agree upon this thing, he has to quit. he has to leave. >> reporter: this new political awakening has stunned people like 23-year-old interior designer who this morning never imagined she or her country could stand up like this. >> this is the best thing to ever happen. it brought everyone together in a very unplanned, unscripted way. >> reporter: like marion, hatib abu ali is part of the generation that's only known one president and now yearns to taste democracy. and can't imagine what change will look like. >> we have a problem now. we're trying to overcome the problem. all these people are ready for it. >> reporter: this crowd is realizing what they're

experiencing now is in fact a taste of freedom, a thing they crave. it's what happens next that daunts many of them. one man told me, in my entire lifetime, i've never been allowed to think for myself, and maybe finally i will. egypt's young in particular, have suffered high unemployment under the mubarak government. mohammed had to skip today's rally to try to sell enough sandwiches on the street to eke out a living. i want to get married but how can i? i earn $100 a month, he tells me, life is very difficult. the protesters feel closer than ever to achieving political change. even though many of them have never witnessed change for themselves. in that sea of humanity you see in the square, is an area that's grassy, in there, there are tents, people who have camped there from the beginning and they've vowed to not leave until mubarak leaves.

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our team members with us. this is happening here. >> reporter: it absolutely is happening here. you can see how crucial it really is. you have 8% of everything we buy goes by ship at one point. that's an amazing statistic. this little tiny artery is one of the most important in the world. you have up to 30% of the world's oil that goes through the suez canal, which is an amazing statistic. oil prices are up a little bit. they're calm in a sense because of what we've seen here, the peaceful protest. if the suez canal were to close, we could see prices go up to $120 a barrel. that would hit everyone in the pocket when it comes to going to the gas station. >> thank you very much for that. we'll take another break. when we come back, more of what it was like today at street level in cairo. ♪ work, work all week long ♪ punching that clock from dusk till dawn ♪ ♪ countin' the days till friday night ♪

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back here in cairo tonight, all of us on our team here on the ground spent a lot of time on these streets today. out with the people looking at this protest, seeing it, hearing it. for part of that time i was with our chief foreign correspondent

richard engel who lived and worked here for many years, to try to see what he sees here going on. >> reporter: this is part of the economy that's popped up to serve us, the protest. >> well, this is just new today, where people are, you can tell it's starting -- there's an air of perm nance to this. people are serving tea, sodas this is just -- this is all new. before the protests were much more violent. there was tear gas in here you couldn't stay, let alone serve tea. >> let's go to the i.d. check. what does that banner say hanging down from the highway overpass. >> it says down, down, hosni mubarak. that's been a constant chant here. >> can you talk us through here?

>> they want to make sure that people don't have weapons. and this -- when people get empowered they -- everyone takes charge. >> we've gone from an unorg niced protest to a hyperorganized protest. >> and everyone is appointing themselves as a volunteer? >> everyone's a leader, everyone's in charge. >> we're entering the final funnel, this is one way in? >> this is the primary way in. this is the eegyptian museum, you can see there are armed guards on the roof. >> this is where the great antiquities are housed? >> correct. >> there's no loud speakers? >> there are different little loud speakers, but no central p.a. system. >> they're making a sign on their way in. everyone is expressing something. part of the hours we spent walking around this city, and hours later, late at night below

us here, they're still going. that's going to do it for our broadcast this tuesday night. i'm brian williams reporting again tonight from cairo, on behalf of our entire team. we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com